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Cybersecurity Awareness

Articles on cybersecurity awareness cover the foundational knowledge individuals and organizations need to recognize and respond to digital threats. Topics include safe browsing habits, password hygiene, social engineering tactics, and building a security-first culture across teams.

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Data Breach

What Causes a Data Breach: 7 Root Causes Explained

In January 2022, the International Committee of the Red Cross disclosed that a sophisticated cyberattack compromised the personal data of more than 515,000 vulnerable people — including missing persons, detainees, and their families. The breach didn't happen because of some exotic zero-day exploit. It happened because of a

Carl B. Johnson Mar 18, 2022 6 min read
Data Breach Examples

Data Breach Examples: Lessons That Still Apply in 2022

In January 2022, the International Committee of the Red Cross disclosed that a sophisticated cyberattack compromised the personal data of more than 515,000 vulnerable people — including refugees, detainees, and missing persons. The attackers exploited an unpatched vulnerability in a single system. One missed update. Half a million of the

Carl B. Johnson Feb 24, 2022 6 min read
Strong Passwords

How to Create a Strong Password That Actually Stops Hackers

The 123456 Problem Is Worse Than You Think In December 2021, NordPass published its annual list of the most common passwords. Sitting at number one — for the third year running — was "123456." Number two? "123456789." These aren't passwords from 2005. They're passwords

Carl B. Johnson Feb 15, 2022 7 min read
Password Manager Benefits

Password Manager Benefits That Stop 80% of Breaches

The Breach That Started With "Company2019!" In January 2021, a security researcher discovered that a SolarWinds intern had used the password "solarwinds123" on a critical internal server. That detail, revealed during congressional hearings, became one of the most embarrassing footnotes in what was already one of

Carl B. Johnson Feb 15, 2022 7 min read
Strong Passwords

Strong Password Examples That Actually Stop Hackers

In January 2022, a credential stuffing attack hit Norton LifeLock, compromising roughly 925,000 accounts. The common thread? Weak and reused passwords. I've spent years watching organizations hemorrhage data because employees — and everyday users — still think "Company2022!" is a strong password. It's not. This

Carl B. Johnson Feb 15, 2022 6 min read
Cyber Incident Response Steps

Cyber Incident Response Steps That Actually Work

The Breach That Exposed a Missing Plan In December 2021, a vulnerability in Apache Log4j sent every security team on the planet into a tailspin. Organizations that had practiced cyber incident response steps mobilized in hours. Those that hadn't? They scrambled, pointed fingers, and lost precious time while

Carl B. Johnson Jan 31, 2022 7 min read
Cyber Incident Reporting

How to Report a Cyber Incident: A Step-by-Step Guide

The Colonial Pipeline Attack Changed Incident Reporting Forever In May 2021, the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack shut down fuel distribution across the U.S. East Coast. The company paid a $4.4 million ransom. But here's what most people missed: Colonial Pipeline reported the incident to the FBI

Carl B. Johnson Jan 18, 2022 7 min read
VPN Best Practices

VPN Best Practices: What Actually Protects You in 2022

The Pulse Secure Breach Should Have Been Your Wake-Up Call In April 2021, CISA issued an emergency directive after threat actors exploited vulnerabilities in Pulse Connect Secure VPN appliances to compromise federal agencies and defense contractors. Attackers maintained persistent access for months before anyone noticed. The tool that was supposed

Carl B. Johnson Jan 06, 2022 7 min read